a house full of insanity: Old Man Winter has come...

The kids and I have been enjoying this unusually warm January we have been having. I think all of the Quad Cities have! Yesterday when I was dropping the kids off at school there were many kids who didn't even have coats on and one of the dads picking up his kid had shorts on! Unbelievable!! But of course my kids went to school with their winter coats on and we made sure their gloves and hats were in their backpack. Yes, I am one of those moms, over protective and no fun.

{Cruising in Bubba's new rip rider, and yes that is a snow white dress she is wearing. We are often found with a Tiana or Snow White Dressed little girl running errands or playing outside. Is it really worse than some of the outfits mom's put their kids in?? :-) }
Although the kids have been sad about the inability to make even one snow angel this year or no snowflakes to mash together in a snowball, they have been getting their vitamin D outdoors in the sunshine up until now.

{Bubba is determined to learn his rip stick}
Dedication is one term Bubba understands. He gets in a groove and from then on no one can convince him to do anything else. Before Christmas it was basketball, basketball, basketball. When it was warm enough he was out there shooting baskets and playing pig with whoever will play. Now it is the new rip stick he got from Christmas. Everyday he gets on it (okay he hasn't mastered getting on it yet, so he tries) and dreams of ripsticking (is that a word?). Along with this is the failure to understand that it will take a long time, maybe months, to figure this thing out. Mommy trying to show him how to do it is also out of the question. I tried while holding onto Rosetta and let's just say we hope there is not a youtube video showing how poorly I did! He catches onto other things so fast that it is very hard for him to understand why he can't get this. He gets extremely frustrated. It takes alot of patience to tell him to just practice and he will get better and better. The January weather has helped him be able to get out on it because once the winter really hits the rip stick will have to be put up for awhile.

So yesterday the kids jumped into the van after school talking about getting their snow pants out for tommorrow and being ready for the snow. Looking at the thermometer in the van reading 52* I was a bit skeptical but agreed to the kids that "yes, if it snows I will pack up your snow pants and boots to take to school to play in the snow." All the while thinking in my head that they are crazy! Because it was such a beautiful day and to keep the house clean until daddy got home (so that he would see that I DID do something today!) I surprised the kids by driving to the park to play. I was not the only parent who had this idea. The place was packed with screaming kids and parents enjoying a little sunshine.

{Rosie helping push Lil Miss on the swing}

{did I mention screaming kids? I meant my kids were screaming ;-) }

{Can you tell we were having a good time?}

{Lil miss spent most of the time in the swing soaking it all in.. when I put her down to play she kept taking off for a large black lab that was on a leash}

{faster, bubba!!!}

My kids have become such great swingers... it was only yesterday that I would have to rush between three kids on swings to keep all of them equal or we would have a fit. Many days of "push me mommy!" "No, push me mommy!" "Mom, Bubba is higher than me, push me now!" Great workout for mommy! I really can appreciate the power of them pushing themselves now.

{making a birthday sign for daddy!!!}

{Lil miss got in on the action}

{time out to play with the puppy.... she instantly starts giggling as soon as he comes near}

{Not sure if she is a lefty or a righty... so we use both hands!}

{she wanted to draw on herself more than the paper... hence the no pants rule while coloring}

Last night was Daddy's birthday. I had the camera out to take pictures of Daddy blowing out the candles and opening up his gifts... but Daddy said NO PICTURES! So sadly we will not have a photo collage of our birthday celebration last night. Daddy was not feeling good at all with cold chills and overall yucky feeling so I did not get him angry by picking up my Nikon and clicking a few shots. We did enjoy a wonderfully delicious ice cream cake from Coldstone and pretty much relaxed all night. Daddy was wrapped in a blanket on the couch looking pretty miserable. We hope he gets better soon before he has to travel next week out!!

Then this morning (didn't mommy look foolish) we woke up to SNOW!!! Finally our winter wonderland that we have been waiting for. It wasn't more than 2 minutes that Rosie was out of bed before she saw the snow and then the whole house was up. I have never seen my kids (mostly Rosie who doddles in the morning taking ever minute of our get ready time to prepare for school -- while still forgetting stuff, like her glasses this morning!) move so fast through getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing teeth, hair, and all the regular morning rituals so that they would have enough time before school to play. If only they could move this fast everyday without mommy nagging them... that would be bliss!!

{Lil miss was not so sure about joining in on the snow fun... she took one step out into the wind and snow and hightailed it back into the garage where it was a little warmer}

They had 15 minutes to play outside before we had to head off to school. Mommy was chilled to the bone and I was only outside about 2 minutes to capture a few shots. I believe Lil Miss has wind burn on her cheeks from walking outside to the van. It was COLD!! The snow is still falling as I write the blog this morning.

{waiting patiently for her warm water}

The best thing about playing outside in the snow is the HOT CHOCOLATE!!

Moments after this shot she had jumped off the deck to only land on her back and start making snow angels. My back yard is covered in snow angels... I am not complaining! ;-)